Texas Tender (35 page)

“I didn't blow up her dam, and I didn't pay Newt Mandrin to rustle her herd,” Jordan thundered at Will before turning to Idalou. “After all the things she's accused me of doing, that would be like sticking my head in a noose.”

“Not if you thought you could get away with it,” Carl said.

“I didn't think I could get away with it because I never thought of doing any of those things.”

“Then how do you explain that the bull was found on your land, penned up in a canyon, and provided with food and water?” Will asked.

“How do I know Carl
did
find that bull on my land?” Jordan demanded. “He could have staged the whole thing.”

“Why would he do that?” Idalou asked. “All of our real trouble started when we decided to sell the bull so we could pay off the mortgage. We already had dozens of calves by him. We could have saved the best of them, sold the bull, and still upgraded our
herd. You hid the bull so we'd end up losing the ranch.”

“
I didn't hide your bull!
”

They were gathered in the main room of Jordan's house. It was a large, open space with several chairs and two couches arranged before a large fireplace in a manner to encourage social interaction rather than confrontation. Alma McGloughlin was so overwhelmed, she allowed Mara to put her arms around her to console her. Idalou had tried to comfort Mara and her mother, but they'd spurned her attempts. She guessed she could understand. After all, she and her brother were responsible for Jordan's impending disgrace.

Idalou had never really liked Jordan McGloughlin. He was a shrewd businessman who didn't mind cutting corners and throwing his weight around. Neither was he above using his children to advance his plans to become the dominant rancher in central Texas. But she did feel a twinge of sympathy now when he seemed to collapse, fold up, and turn gray in defeat. She believed he was guilty and she was determined he'd pay for what he'd done, but she knew what it was like to feel helplessly caught. He probably wouldn't be sent to prison, but this would destroy his reputation and position of influence.

“I did tell my boys to chase that bull around my range for a few days, but that's all I did.” He dropped his gaze to the floor. “I didn't pen him up so Idalou and Carl would lose their ranch. I have enough money to buy up her father's mortgage. I was just waiting until Lloyd got tired of extending her credit.”

“To an outside observer it would look like you got tired of waiting,” Lloyd Severns said.

As the owner of the bank and the head of the committee to find the next sheriff—as well as Jordan's
best friend—he had insisted upon coming when he heard about the bull.

“It was because of me.” Mara had been standing back from the circle around Jordan, but now she stepped forward. “He wanted to get rid of Carl so I couldn't marry him and would have to marry Van. Well, Daddy, you did it all for nothing. I hate Van. He's mean and selfish. If I can't marry Carl, I'm not going to marry anybody.”

“I'm still your father,” Jordan thundered. “You'll do as I tell you.”

“I don't have to listen to a man who will steal and destroy to get what he wants.” Mara jumped up. “You can't ever make me do anything again.” She ran from the room sobbing. Her mother cast a hopeless glance around the room before following her daughter.

“See what you've done?” Jordan said to Idalou. “None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for you and your brother.”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn't been so greedy,” Idalou said.

“I agree,” Lloyd said. “The Ellsworth place was never going to be big enough to threaten you, Jordan.”

“Are you going to arrest him now?” Carl asked Will.

“Yes,” Will said, “but not for the reason you think. Is there someplace we could talk without danger of being overheard?” he asked Jordan.

They had gathered in the great room of the Mc-Gloughlin ranch house. There were no doors to close it off from the rest of the house, only archways connecting it with the other rooms.

“We could go into my office,” Jordan said, “but it's mighty small for five people.”

“It'll have to do,” Will said.

Idalou knew Will had always been reluctant to accept the notion that Jordan was behind all the trouble, but surely he couldn't believe anything else now.

“I have no proof of what I'm about to say,” Will said once they'd settled, “but I want you to think about it before you tell me I'm crazy.”

“Nobody thinks you're crazy,” Lloyd said.

“I've always thought Jordan was responsible for the bull being lost, but not the dam bursting or the rustling.” Will looked from one face to another. “I think somebody else is involved and trying to put the blame on Jordan.”

Idalou couldn't speak, his statement had taken her breath away.

“I'm aware that all the evidence seems to point to him,” Will continued.

“Finding the bull on his land sure as hell does,” Carl exclaimed. “Idalou tried to tell me he would do anything to get our place, but I believed Jordan when he said he wouldn't do anything illegal.”

“I believe him, too,” Will said.

“Why?” Idalou had finally found her tongue. “How can you possibly believe he's not guilty?”

Will's gaze focused on Idalou. “People have misjudged me all my life. When most of us look at people, we see only what's on the outside. We seldom bother to look deeper. I have to take responsibility for people misjudging me, just as Jordan now has to take responsibility for people misjudging him. He took advantage of you in little things. Even worse, he appeared to take pride in doing it. It was only natural he would be blamed when things escalated.”

“Who do you think is responsible, then?” Carl asked.

“I believe Frank Sonnenberg is behind your trouble, aided and abetted by Van and Newt Mandrin.”

“Van is our friend,” Carl objected. “After Webb died, I thought he would ask Idalou to marry him.”

“Why would Frank try to destroy us?” Idalou asked.

“He offered to buy the ranch if I wanted to sell. I would have sold it to him even if he couldn't pay as much as Jordan.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“No. Why should I?”

“Let me tell you what I think,” Will said. “I believe Frank Sonnenberg is eaten up with jealousy because Jordan's ranch is bigger and more successful than his. Having your land and water would give him the advantage. He probably sat back and smiled when he saw Jordan letting his cows run all over your land, but he panicked when you decided to sell the bull to keep the ranch. The only way to prevent that was to steal the bull. Jordan played right into his hands by chasing the bull onto his land. It was easy enough for Sonnenberg to have Newt find the bull, pen him up, and blame it on Jordan. Remember what Henry and Mort said about strange hoofprints? If Jordan was thought to be behind all the trouble, Sonnenberg was sure to get the ranch in the end.”

“But Van let me search his ranch,” Idalou said.

“Had you searched his ranch before?” Will asked.

“No.”

“I think the bull was on his property the whole time, but as long as Van or his own hands were with you, he could be sure you wouldn't find anything to arouse suspicion. And by volunteering to let you search his land, he ensured that no one would think he was guilty.”

Idalou found it hard to believe that Jordan wasn't responsible for everything, but she had to admit that Will's explanation was plausible.

“Frank is determined that Van will marry Mara and join all the ranches into one huge spread, but Mara is a headstrong girl and in love with Carl. Jordan is a hard businessman, but he's a doting father.
He couldn't be depended on to hold out against Mara's wishes. In that case, the best thing to do was reduce Carl to penury by destroying the dam and rustling the herd. Frank was certain Mara wouldn't marry a man without a ranch, a house, or a job.”

“I can't believe all that,” Carl said.

“It sounds very complicated,” Lloyd said.

“Are you saying it's hard to believe that Frank would do something like this.” Jordan fumed, “but it's easy to believe I did?”

“I'm saying Carl found the bull on your property and everybody knows about the bull breeding with your cows,” Will said. “We don't know who blew up the dam, but we know you've hired Newt on several occasions and that he was involved in the rustling. A lot of the evidence is circumstantial, but it all points to you.”

“You said you were going to arrest Jordan but not for the reasons we thought,” Idalou said to Will. “What do you want to do?”

Will looked directly at Idalou. She could tell he was asking her support, asking for her to believe him. She couldn't accept that he was right about Jordan, but she did believe that Will thought he was doing the right thing. For that reason she'd listen to what he had to say.

“If, as I believe, Frank Sonnenberg is behind this, the most important part of his plan is to have Van marry Mara. If he believes Mara has defied her father and plans to marry Carl anyway, he'll have to do something to stop her.”

“I intend to arrest you, Jordan, and hold you in the Dunmore jail,” Will continued. “I propose that Mara run away. Just to town,” Will said before Jordan could protest. “She can stay at the hotel. With Idalou, Junie Mae, and me to watch her, she ought to be safe.”

“Go on,” Lloyd said, though Jordan clearly didn't like the plan.

“Mara can announce, as she already has done, that she plans to defy her father and marry Carl. Now that he has the bull and can pay off his debt to me, he's not penniless any longer. And with Jordan in jail, it's possible that Mara and her mother would ask Carl to take over running the McGloughlin ranch.”

“What do you expect Frank to do?” Idalou asked.

“I'm not sure. Most likely Van will ask Mara to marry him and Frank will put pressure on Jordan to force her. Whatever he decides, he has to make some move to keep Mara from marrying Carl.”

“I don't like that,” Jordan said. “It puts Mara in danger.”

“Not as much as Carl,” Idalou said.

“I'm not afraid of Frank Sonnenberg,” Carl declared.

“If he's behind all of this trouble, maybe you ought to be,” Lloyd said.

“Carl can move into town,” Will suggested. “That way he'd be safe and could spend more time with Mara.”

“I'm not ready for that,” Carl said. “Besides, I can't take care of my ranch at a distance.”

“You don't have to stay in town, just come in at night,” Will said.

“Are you going to ask Idalou to marry you?” Carl demanded.

If Idalou thought that question would throw Will as badly as it threw her, she was mistaken. Will didn't blink. “If that's what I'm thinking, don't you think I ought to talk to Idalou first?”

Idalou held back the surge of hope. He'd practically said he wanted to marry her, but maybe Carl had forced his hand when he was still undecided.

“You've have had plenty of time to do that before now,” Carl said.

“Whenever we've gotten close, there have been interruptions—your fight with Van, for example,” Will said in a tone that didn't carry blame.

Now it was Carl's turn to be flustered. “Most people think Van is just spoiled and thoughtless because his mother died when he was a kid, but he's really a cruel bastard. He doesn't even like Mara, yet he's perfectly happy to marry her in order to get Jordan's ranch.”

“I don't plan on dying anytime soon,” Jordan said. “I'm still a relatively young man.”

“Even young men have accidents,” Carl said.

“We're getting away from the problem at hand,” Will said. “Can we all agree on how to proceed for the next few days?”

“Your plan is okay by me, but I'm not staying in town,” Carl said. “I don't relish being accepted by Jordan simply because there's no other choice.”

“Nobody's saying that,” Idalou said. “Besides, if you love Mara, why should Jordan's opinion make a difference?”

“For the same reason you won't let Will ask you to marry him because we owe him money. It makes me uncomfortable, and I don't like that.”

“Now that you've found the bull, Idalou doesn't have that excuse any longer, does she?” Lloyd asked with what Idalou could only characterize as a sly grin.

Idalou felt heat flood her face. “We're not talking about me.”

“I need to get back to town,” Will said. “I'll take Jordan. Lloyd, do you mind letting Idalou and Mara ride with you? If Idalou doesn't hurry, she'll be late for work.”

Idalou had disliked working in Ella's dress shop at
first, but eventually she'd come to like it. The job helped take her mind off her troubles. It also required her to interact more with the ladies of Dunmore, something she had never done but found she liked. The money she earned gave her a sense of independence and security. She didn't feel quite so vulnerable, so dependent on Will. She didn't know much about clothes, but Ella said she knew more about salesmanship than Junie Mae.

“I don't want Mara staying by herself,” Jordan said.

“Either Junie Mae or I will stay with her.” Idalou paused. “I hope Will is right about you,” she said to Jordan. “I'd hate to think of Carl marrying the daughter of a criminal.”

“I can't believe you're going along with this,” Jordan replied. “You hate me so much, I was certain you'd be doing your best to have me sent to prison.”

“I've disagreed with Will before and been wrong every time. This time I'm going to trust him.”

“I didn't do it,” Jordan said. “When I get out of this mess, I promise I'll pay you for every calf sired by your bull. Is it okay to let the sheriff decide what's a fair price?”